WriMo - Day 1: How to Not Burn Out

I’m going to write something every day on my blog during this month November, no matter the quality. The topics can range from personal, to IT, to sports, to philosphy. No limits, just write!

Day 1 – How to Not Burn Out

In 2017 I quit my job as IT consultant because I could no longer do it anymore, I was burned out. Work took over my mind in my free time as well and I cared way too much about all of it. My mind went into overdrive and I ended up not being able to do much of anything at all. I decided to work for myself from there on out and I started my first assignment in 2018. The long break from work healed me.

It’s now 2021 and it hasn’t happened since. I’m still very sensitive to work stress, but I have figured out one trick to protect myself from going down that road once again.

I believe we all have a certain amount of fucks to give. Since our Western society is all about being productive and efficient, there’s a sick push towards spending more fucks than you naturally have. This is not sustainable for most of us and doing this for a prolonged period of time can make you sick or burned out.

I protect myself by spending less fucks than I naturally have to give. Why less? Because I want to stay mentally and physically healthy for as long as I can and if I spend my fucks to give at maximum all the time I will burn out again. I keep a couple of fucks in reserve for the rare occasions I need to spend them to the maximum of my limit. And honestly, I’d rather spend those fucks to give on a private occasion than a work occasion.

I advise everyone to do the same. You might love your work, but your work doesn’t love you back.